


From Dusk Til Dawn Is Not Meant To Be A Documentary

by CasualOtaku, Mishaela



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman - Fandom, Batman: The Animated Series, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, JayTimBINGO2019, JayTimWeek, M/M, Magic, Not Beta Read, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Witches, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:40:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasualOtaku/pseuds/CasualOtaku, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mishaela/pseuds/Mishaela
Summary: Jason and Tim's little bout of urban exploration goes horribly wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WORK IN PROGRESS. Normally I wouldn't post a rough draft like this, but I refused to let the final week of JayTim roll by without me posting anything. Unfortunately I leave in around four hours for vacation and won't be back before the challenge is done. I WILL be cleaning this up and finishing it out when I return. Many thanks to my co-author Mishaela for helping me.
> 
> (I went ahead and cleaned up the formatting as well as fixing some typos. -Mish)

_[This is not good. This is so not good.]_ Tim thought as he struggled to drag Jason to the car. This was supposed to be a night of fun urban exploration. Not accidentally ending up hunted by a-- _[Don't! Don't say it! If you say it you'll give it power....make it real.] _

Jason let out a groan as Tim was forced to drop him against the car door to fish out the keys. Tim panicked and slapped a hand over the young man's mouth, hoping against hope that they hadn't been heard. He whipped his gaze back towards the old abandoned hotel, eyes sharp for any movement.

"I love to-go meals," a female voice purred, just loud enough for Tim to hear. "Two-for-one specials are even better."

Tim took in a sharp breath, his heart hammering in his chest as he dug deeper into Jason's pocket and dragged out the keys, hand shaking as he tried to get it into the lock. "You just had to go for a classic car instead of something with keyless entry like someone from this decade, didn't you?" Tim whispered to Jason, almost sagging in relief when he got it to slide home and unlocked the door.

A rustling in the bushes nearby alerted Tim that there was someone else close at hand before another teenager seemed to burst from the foliage. He looked at Tim then Jason before his gaze went to the woman in the window. His face shifted to anger before he lobbed something spherical towards the window. The sound of thin glass shattering was loud in the air and then the woman tore herself away. From within, all three heard the sound of her violently retching.

Tim blinked at that, before he tore open the car door and did his best to stuff Jason inside. "C'mon, Jay. Almost there."

The unknown teen rushed over to help. "It'll only keep her busy for a few minutes," he said while grabbing Jason's legs. "We need to be gone in a hot hurry."

Tim was too grateful for the help to question it as he got Jason stuffed into the passenger seat and ran for the driver's side. "Good enough for me. Hop in."

Sleeking into the back seat, the other youth yanked the passenger door shut and then turned his attention back to the window. "Fucking leecher bitch," he snarled.

Tim peeled out of the parking lot. "You won't find me arguing. She bit him. On the neck. Who the hell bites someone on the neck?"

"A vampire," the dark haired teen said. "We can't take him to the hospital. If we do, they'll be all over us."

"But he's bleeding out." Tim said. "He's going to need a transfusion."

"I know someone who can help," the other teen said and dug his phone out. "I'm Jackie, by the way."

"Hi Jackie. I'm Tim. And what the hell do you mean vampire? Vampires aren't real. There's just mentally ill people that think they're vampires. Right?"

"I mean what I said," Jackie replied. "Vampires. Blood-sucking, undead motherfu- Hey, Auntie! Listen, I've got an emergency. I know it's late but can I bring some friends over? One of them's in a bad way."

Tim whimpered a little. He really, REALLY hadn't wanted that answer. He'd almost convinced himself his occasional glimpses of things that weren't there had simply been the result of an overactive imagination and a desperate sense of loneliness courtesy of his absentee parents. But whatever that woman--no that thing was back at the hotel. It was getting harder to convince himself it belonged in the natural realm.

"He got bit," Jack said, putting a little emphasis on the last word while talking on the cell. "He's damn near unconscious."

The young man listened for a moment before shifting in his seat to move Jason's head to the side. "Yeah, I see it. There's black striations around it," he said after looking at the bite wound.

His gaze went to Tim. "Take the freeway. South. Stay three miles within the speed limit and the cops won't bug you."

Tim did as told, taking the Interstate South at precisely three miles above the speed limit. "Black isn't good. Black is never good around wounds. Please say he isn't infected or something.'

"I'll let the confirmed, legal adult tell you what's going on when we get there because I have a feeling anything I tell you isn't going to penetrate the Veil," Jackie replied as he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"I'm listening to you instead of making a beeline to Gotham Memorial like I should be. I think I deserve at least a little bit more faith."

"Fine," Jackie said, shifting so he was leaned forward between the bucket seats. "Take all that mass media bullshit and chuck it out the window. There's no nice vampires. Vampirism is a corruptive influence. They also can't create themselves an army in one night, thank God. They pass vampirism on by biting, but it's hard to make it take. She had her fangs in him a good long while, though, so she upped the odds. That's vampiric necrosis. The corruption is trying to spread. If we can get him to Auntie's fast enough, she might be able to reverse it."

“What if it doesn't...take?" Tim asked.

"Then we have to do what I was originally there to do: kill that leecher bitch. He's not the only one she bit. I've got a friend in the hospital because of her. No one knows what's wrong and screaming about vampires in a hospital is a bad idea, so my only option is to make her dust."

"She was crawling the walls...literally. Like Spiderman only creepy A.F." Tim said, shuddering at the memory.

"Psycho-kinesis. Not all vampires can do it and most of the ones who can are limited in how far they can project it," Jackie told him. He reached out and pointed. "That fence there. Turn down that road. Once we're in deep enough, that leecher bitch won't be able to follow in the off-chance she or one of her lackeys is tracking us."

Tim turned down the road even as his logical mind screamed this was a bad idea. His instincts said he needed to trust and his instincts were usually pretty good. Case in point, his instincts had told him not to enter that damned hotel in the first place but he'd ignored it because logically the most threatening thing in there should have been a bum or two trying to squat. Now he wasn't sure what to think.

A quarter mile from the highway, white posts stretched up and over the gravel road. Once they were past those posts, Jackie gave a sigh of relief. "We're home free now. The posts mark a barrier against the unnatural. Vampires and werewolves can't cross the boundary."

He leaned back in his seat. "Just follow the road, taking a left at every fork. It'll look like we're going in circles, but we'll get there after you take the fifth one."

Tim nodded and stole a glance at Jason, trying to take solace in the fact he could still see the steady rise and fall of his boyfriend's chest.

After the fifth such left fork, the road led them to an open parcel of land that was beautifully maintained. Flowers and gardens surrounded the house, some of them foreign despite Tim's extensive education. There was even a bed of Gotham roses planted close to the house.

Around the front of that house was a wrap around porch where a very beautiful redheaded woman waited.

"That's Auntie," Jackie told Tim.

Tim blinked. He wasn't certain what he'd been expecting, but a woman worthy of being a supermodel wasn't it. He quickly shook that off however and reached over to check on Jason. "Jay? You still with me?"

The woman came down and moved to the passenger door so she could open it. "How long ago was he bitten?" she asked.

"Maybe not quite a half hour ago," Jackie answered as he squirmed out from behind the seat.

"Take him to the moon pool in back."

Tim moved around to the other side of the car to help carry Jason around the back of the house, praying he wasn't making a mistake by trusting his gut here.

Jackie once again took up Jason's legs so they could get him moved quickly. The gardens extended around the side of the home. In the back, however, was a beautiful white marble lined pool ringed by flowers with five paths spreading out. The teen looked at the woman. "Which path?" he asked.

"He needs purification, so the water path," she answered, pointing to the appropriate entry. "Jackie, he'll need to be fully naked. When he is, put him on the water altar."

"Naked?" Tim asked.

"The moon pool is the purest form of water to exist," Jackie told him. "No contaminants are allowed in the water."

"But...that would mean we'd all have to be naked too."

"I can get him on the water altar," Jackie said, shucking out of his shirt.

Tim felt an unreasonable spike of possessiveness, but tamped it down. He could be jealous after Jason was safe and sound again.

Once both Jackie and Jason were nude, Jason was pulled over Jack's shoulder so he could get him in position. Carefully, Jason was eased back on the stone plinth in the center of the pool, his body submerged in the water by a few inches. Jackie returned once Jason was in place and grabbed his clothes.

The woman walked along the water path herself, tossing off her thin linen robe a few steps before she reached the water's edge and then stepped down into the pool herself. Around the water basin, braziers sputtered to life and an herbal scent began to permeate the air. She raised her hands to the sky, reaching for the moon in an almost beckoning motion.

"We need to go inside," Jackie told Tim. "The ritual she's using shouldn't be observed."

"But.." Tim began only to close his eyes. "Can I just stay here like this? I can't leave him."

"We won't be leaving him," Jackie assured the other teen. "But Auntie Pam is trying save his life and our presence can fuck that up."

"Okay. Okay." Tim murmured, forcing himself to head for the doors. In for a penny, in for a pound after all.

"I'll make some tea," Jackie told him. "It'll help calm your nerves."

Tim rubbed his arms. "We shouldn't have gone inside. There were too many shadows. I just...I didn't want to believe."

"Shit... and now you're having Breach Shock," the other teen said and turned Tim so he could usher him toward the house. "Inside before you completely freak right the fuck out."

"I don't do freak outs." Tim said as he let himself be led. "Well, not externally."

"When it comes to Breach Shock, I'm not taking chances."

"Believe me. I won't let myself freak out until I know Jay is safe." Tim said.

Jackie opened the door and pushed Tim through, taking down a robe to cover himself as he closed the door behind them. His clothes were dropped on a nearby chair. Around the pair was a well-appointed kitchen with several nice bells and whistles. Like a pod coffee maker.

Taking a glass jar of tea down, Jackie loaded two pods with a fragrant blend. Two cups were next so he could start the brewing process. "Auntie Pam is one of the more powerful witches. Your boyfriend will be fine."

"Vampires...witches...what's next? Werewolves? Demons? Maybe finding out I'm the distant relative of my namesake?"

"Don't ask questions you really don't want an answer for," Jackie warned him.

"I don't think I have any choice but to ask." Tim said. "This sort of stuff has been trickling in all my life. I guess the dam just finally burst on me."

"Yeah, I never had the option for ignorance. Knowing about all this shit is a real complication beyond everything else. Teen drama pales in comparison."

Tim scrubbed his face. "Why didn't I press harder when I told him the place was creeping me out? We could have left before we ever happened across her."

"That place is one of her snack zones. It wouldn't have mattered. She would have followed you two around until opportunity presented itself," Jackie told him as he handed over the first of the mugs.

"Wouldn't that mean a lot of deaths or injuries around the place?" Tim asked. "The worst people reported was weird sounds and lights."

"Kyle has the ability to manipulate people's memories," Jackie said.

"...lovely." Tim muttered before he sighed and picked up the tea.

Jackie got his own mug before emptying the pods. "He'll be fine," he said after a beat. "Auntie Pam hates vampires. She can't do anything for Jenny because she's in the hospital and the corruption's too advanced, but your boyfriend is still salvageable."

"And I appreciate it...but am I going to have to deal with a life for a life scenario? If so I need to get him back to his family first so he has support for the ensuing meltdown."

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"Jay doesn't react well to people hurting me. We met because he protected me from bullies."

"You weren't the one hurt. He was. I think she was trying to make him one of hers. Her last toy must have gotten dusted recently."

"He wouldn't like that. He's never been the obedient sort." Tim said his voice fond. "That's more my shtick."

"If he'd been left without help, he wouldn't have had a choice," Jackie explained before taking another sip of his tea. "Kyle hates working alone. Back when she was still human, she and Auntie Pam were friends. The two of them and Auntie Harleen. They called themselves the Gotham City Sirens."

He sighed and his dark eyes glanced at the covered window. "They were really good at taking down naughty supernaturals... Until Vincent D'Angelo came along and got his bite on Kyle. Rather than get it treated, she let it fester. Now, guys like you and your boyfriend are paying the price for her pride."

"Failed Horror Movie 101 I take it?" Tim asked before taking a sip of tea.

"More like too proud to admit to anyone that a vampire got her," Jackie replied. "Her change broke up the gang. Now, Auntie Pam lives in seclusion and Auntie Harleen's all over Hell and half of breakfast to take out werewolves. Vampires, too, if they cross her path. She's wicked with a carnival mallet."

"Half of breakfast?"

"She doesn't always manage to get in a full meal when on the hunt and she's well beyond Arkansas."

"Ah. I see." Tim said before taking another sip of tea. It was actually pretty tasty for something brewed in a pod.

"I could try contacting Auntie Harleen and see if she can give me some advice on taking Kyle down."

"Not as simple as rigging up a wood splinter frag grenade I take it?"

"It needs to be a bit bigger than that and the wood has to be Ash. There might be one or two other types of wood, but I'd have to look that up," Jackie replied.

"Why Ash?" Tim asked.

“It's a sacred kind of wood and the lore insists it's best. Vampire hunters also endorse it as effective against the leechers."

"Dunk her in holy water?"

"Right," Jackie snorted. "You can try that first."

"I'm open to other suggestions."

“Garlic grenade and crossbow bolts is sounding like a prime start on ideas," Jackie told him, taking another sip from his mug.

"So I should eat an entire bagna cauda before I go after her."

Jackie looked at him. "How do you think I got her off your back so we could get the fuck out of there?"

"Smoke bomb?"

"That wouldn't work," the other teen said with a shake of his head before pointing at his eyes with one hand. "She can see heat signatures."

"...don't make me resort to studying demolitions. There's bound to be ash in the debris somewhere."

"Planning is more essential than tools. Even with the right tools, not having a plan would get us killed in a heartbeat."

"That's what I'm doing. Planning. I need to know my enemy."

"She's a thief, adept at B&E, with a fondness for cats," Jackie said.

"Hmmm...so she's going to know her way around most security measures...difficult."

"Yeah, she does. It was how they broke into many lairs," Jack said, his head turning towards the door when he heard a male voice from the back. "I think your boyfriend's back."

Tim was on his feet and heading for the door just as the last word was leaving Jackie's lips.

Pam offered her hand to Jason. "Let's go inside and I'll make some tea."

Jason blinked at the hand. "Look lady. You're hot AF and all, but I got a boyfriend."

"You're a bit young for me," she said, her hand still held out to him. "And your boyfriend has been beside himself with concern since you were brought here, so I'd rather not have you slip coming out of the moon pool to make his worry worsen."

"Tim's okay?" Jason asked as he took the offered hand. "What happened to the psycho bitch that attacked us?"

"She got a face full of garlic oil," Jackie said, coming out with a robe over his arm.

The witch drew Jason off the stone plinth and up the stairs leading to the water path. "He has a full recovery, Jackie. You didn't need to bring the curse patches."

The teen shrugged before holding the robe out to Jason. "I wasn't sure, so I wasn't taking chances."

Tim bolted out and all but bowled Jason over as he gave him a hug. "Jason! You're okay!"

Jason grunted a bit at the impact, but weathered it well enough. "I was about to say the same of you...you got blood all over you, baby."

"I had to drag you out of there." Tim said. "The shirt can be replaced. You're what matters to me."

Jason felt his heart warm at that and pulled Tim into a hug. "Glad to hear it. Now why am I naked?"

"Because clothing will contaminate the moon pool," Pam answered, kneeling to pick up her linen robe so she could cover herself.

Jackie opened the robe he'd brought for Jason. "Here. We can wash your clothes so you don't have to keep the reminder of what happened."

"Or I could burn the lot." Jason said. "Well...maybe not the jacket. That's a pretty sweet jacket."

"I don't have many men's clothes," the woman pointed out. "I can't replace them if you burn them."

Jason stepped into the offered robe with a small smile.. "Thanks...but I'm willing to drive home naked if I got to. Just tell me someone iced the bitch."

"That part's tricky, but I'm working on it," Jackie said. "I'm Jack Estacado. People like Auntie Pam here also call me Jackie."

"Jason Todd." Jason said as he held out his hand. "Thank you for the save. Both of you."

Jackie shook his hand with a nod. "Let's get you inside."

"I did promise tea," Pam said in agreement.

"It's really good tea." Tim said. "Perfect to sip while plotting vampire demise."

"I've been plotting that leecher's demise for more than a week," Jackie grumbled.

"Leecher?" Jason asked. "Isn't that giving her a bit too much credit? At least leeches are somewhat medically useful."

"They're still ugly and no one wants to find one on them."

"He has you there, Jay." Tim said.

"Give me this, Timbers." Jason said. "Otherwise I might start thinking too hard about things and freak myself out."

"You won't be going after Selina alone. I'll call Harleen," Pam said after a moment.

"Sounds good to me." Tim said. "We can't let her keep hurting people."

"Auntie Harleen's a badass with pink pigtails," Jackie told them.

"Aaaand now I'm picturing a knitting circle worth of aunties ganging up to take the bitch down." Jason said before laughing...and laughing some more...a bit too much in fact.

“Catch him," Pam warned Tim. "He's going into Breach Shock."

Tim blinked and hugged Jason to him just as the larger man's knees suddenly gave way underneath him. "Eaaasy there, Jay. "

Jackie moved up beside the taller teen and helped secure him so he could be taken into the house. "There's a spare bedroom he can rest in," he said to Tim. "Relaxing will help."

"Thanks." Tim said as Jason continued to let out small giggles tinged with hysteria.

Through the back of the house and up the stairs, Jackie opened a door to a nice bedroom. Jason was lain across the mattress before he stepped back. "I'll let you two be so you can help him with the hysterics. If you need help, just yell."

"I will." Tim promised before he curled up next to Jason and pulled him into his arms. "Hang in there, Jay. I know it sucks to have to admit the weird stuff really is real, but you can handle this. WE can handle this...together."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an incomplete chapter, but I promised CO that more would be added to the story from my end while she's on vacation.

Jackie listened carefully to be certain that Pam had gone to bed. If they were going to pull this off, then he needed to get into the old arsenal she kept from her days as a hunter. His best friend, Jenny Romano, was running out of time.  
  
They'd grown up in the orphanage together, with him protecting her from anyone who'd even considered hurting Jenny. Until Frankie Franchetti came along. He didn't know why the man was interested in him, but living in an amazing house quickly got him on board. For years, he was groomed as a mafia enforcer.  
  
That lasted until Franchetti ran afoul of some otherworldly opposition. The teen was the only survivor of a Ban-Sidhe coup, and that was because of the interference of the Gotham City Sirens. The three women saved him from death and, since he was still a minor, took him in themselves.  
  
Selina Kyle had always been the most distant of the trio and Harleen the most affectionate. He learned that the world around him had a lot more depth beyond what he could see normally. A second underworld that was a lot more dangerous and mystical.  
  
After Selina went vampire and put the bite on Jenny just to hurt him, Jackie had lost all fondness for the bitch.  
  
The teen slipped from his room and looked to see that the light was out under Pam's door, giving a brief nod as he crept along. He knew the upper floors well and knew where not to step if he didn't want to alert her that he wasn't asleep himself. It took little time for him to let himself into the basement where he could move a little more carelessly.  
  
In the past, he'd watched her open the safe to the arsenal and, unbeknownst to the women, he'd learned the code to get in. Jackie spun the dial with his ear to the metal plate, listening to the tumblers as the numbers shifted. It didn't help, but even as a teen he couldn't resist that momentary allure of playing the part of a master thief.  
  
A solid thunk heralded the receding of the locks, making the teen freeze and offer up a silent prayer that Pam hadn't heard him.  
  
When there was no immediate noise, he took things more cautiously to open the safe. Before him was a grab bag of items meant to deal with supernatural threats. Weapons crafted from cold iron, kukris forged from silver, and throwing spikes carved from fire-hardened ash.  
  
What caught his attention, however, was the elegant handguns on the back wall of the safe and the silver bullets that had been made for them. He knew guns well from his time with Frankie. Jackie reached in and took them down, feeling a slight tingle against his palms as he held the paired pistols. The instruction in witchery was enough to let him sense items that had been enchanted or otherwise augmented with magic.  
  
These certainly qualified.  
  
"I'll just borrow you lovely girls and put you back before Auntie realizes you were gone to begin with," he murmured as he gazed over the elegantly designed titanium plated rigs. It was only through habit that he plucked up the magazines that matched the handguns.  
  
Jackie turned around and took a single step before he realized that he wasn't alone in the room. Sitting on the bottom stairs, Pamela sipped a cup of tea. Her eyes shifted towards him while it lowered.  
  
"It seems I'll need to change the combination in the morning," the woman said, her tone as bland as if she were talking about the weather.  
  
Jackie suddenly felt guilty and averted his gaze. "I... I need these. I'll bring them back, I swear."  
  
"You were raised in a violent world. I really shouldn't be surprised, Jackie. I'm just... disappointed."  
  
Oh, that hurt. That cut him right to the quick. The teen winced visibly at the words.  
  
"Jenny needs me, Auntie. She doesn't have much longer," he said.  
  
"I know. That's the only reason I'm not telling you to put them back," Pam replied. "I'll let you take them on the condition that you'll never open that arsenal again. Not everything in there is beneficial."  
  
She took another sip of her tea. "If I could leave this place, the problem would already be sorted. Since I can't, however, then I suppose pointing your violent urges in the direction of evil is something I'll have to live with."  
  
Jackie nodded. "Just until Jenny's saved. I promise."  
  
"Be careful with the guns," Pam said as she rose with her tea. "They were forged from iron that was once the shackles of a woman who'd been wrongly accused during the Inquisition. They won't like it if you use them to harm an innocent person."  
  
"I'll remember. Thanks, Auntie Pam," the young man said, watching as the witch departed to return to her bedroom.  
  


***

**Author's Note:**

> Written for JayTim Bingo 2019. We used the prompts Bite, Witch, Enchanted Weapon, and Theft.


End file.
